Portable electronic and digital devices benefit from the inclusion of control and data entry apparatuses that allow for movement of a cursor, actuation of one or more switches, or scrolling of a display. In this context, a mouse or joystick as might be employed in conjunction with desk-top computers is often prohibitively large. A variety of alternative control and data entry apparatuses have therefore been employed.
One approach has been to miniaturize a joystick, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,030, issued to Berstin et al. (hereafter “the Berstin reference”), hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Movable puck or slider based devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,158,115, issued to Harley et al. (hereafter “the first Harley reference”) and U.S. patent application Publication No. 2005/0110755 A1 to Harley et al. (hereafter “the second Harley reference”), also hereby incorporated by reference herein in their respective entireties.
One particularly popular control and data entry device takes the form of a circular touch pad that includes switches, and is disclosed in U.S. patent application Publication No. 2007/0052691 to Zadesky et al.; see also U.S. Pat. No. 7,046,230 to Zadesky (hereafter “the Zadesky references”), hereby incorporated by reference herein in their respective entireties. The Zadesky references describes certain aspects of keypads employed with popular iPOD™ devices manufactured by APPLE.™
Among the more ubiquitous control and data entry apparatuses employed in portable electronic devices today are so-called “5-way keypads,” which are to be found in many different models and types of mobile telephones, such the MOTOROLA™ SLVR.™ In such 5-way keypad devices, a pad of generally circular shape has a center button and a an outer ring disposed thereabout having arrows corresponding to the four cardinal directions (i.e., N, S, E and W) superimposed thereon. The circular pad is disposed atop a flexible membrane and a series of dome switches disposed beneath the membrane and the pad. Pressing down sufficiently hard upon the circular pad at a location corresponding to an arrow results in the dome switch disposed therebelow being closed or actuated. Similarly, a dome switch is also disposed below the center button. Consequently, the four arrows and center button in a conventional 5-way keypad provide five different switches that can be actuated or closed by a user.
Notably, however, most of the above-described 5-way telephone keypads do not include any scrolling capability, such as that provided by the keypad of an iPOD™ device. The keyboard on an iPOD™ device, however, requires that a user's finger establish skin contact therewith and thereby provide a path to ground before the iPOD™ keypad may be operated. That is, iPOD™ keypads may not be operated by a user wearing gloves, or through the use of a pencil, cursor pen or other such electrically insulated device, mechanism or body part placed or pressed thereon.
In addition to the keypad in an iPOD™ device, the AVAGO AMRX™ keypad provides a 5-way keypad with scrolling functionality provided by way of a combined rotatable wheel and four depressable switches disposed beneath the wheel plus a depressable switch located beneath a central button. Scrolling is effected by physically turning the wheel with a user's finger, and clicking or switch actuation is effected by pressing downwardly upon the wheel or center button. The AMRX keypad is based on reflective optical encoding technology, however, and therefore has a fixed number of counts per revolution of the central wheel. This, in turn, means that the number of counts per revolution of the central wheel cannot be adjusted dynamically to take into account slow or fast movement of the wheel by a user's finger, to thereby adjust the resolution or “fineness” of wheel for different scrolling or selection options. Additionally, it has been discovered that user preferences regarding the stickiness or smoothness of central wheel as a user dials it fore and aft vary considerably, and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to provide a central wheel of a single design and “stickiness” that will meet with the approval of even the majority of users.
Most manufacturers of portable electronic devices such as telephones have different requirements for the physical dimensions of control and data entry apparatuses that are to be incorporated therein, as well as the sizes and positions of components associated therewith, such as membranes, dome switches and sense electrodes. Consequently, adaptation of a control and data entry apparatus of a given design and configuration for use in a commercial product such as a particular mobile telephone model often involves significant tooling costs, especially if, for example, new functionality such as scrolling is to be added to a 5-way keypad otherwise conventional in outward appearance such as with a rotatable wheel.
Finally, many portable and stationary devices have electronic circuitry disposed within the housings thereof that is susceptible to damage or harm owing to the incursion of liquids, gases or vapors inside the housing. This susceptibility is generally heightened in portable devices such as mobile telephones, where users subject such devices to all manner of harsh environmental conditions such as liquids being spilled upon the keypads thereof, salt-laden oceanic air, chemical vapors and so on. Accordingly, it is desirable that such mobile and stationary devices be equipped with control and data entry surfaces or keypads capable of withstanding such environmental rigors.
What is needed is a control and data entry apparatus that: (1) is easily adaptable for use in different portable electronic devices without requiring extensive tooling changes; (2) is resistant to liquids, gases or vapors that might otherwise damage electronic circuitry disposed within the device; (3) provides combined clicking and scrolling functionality in a single keypad without having to provide, for example, a rotatable wheel mechanism; (4) does not require for its operation a path to ground through a user's finger or other body part; and (5) does not require fundamental changes to the outward appearance, functionality, footprint or mechanical structure of a control and data entry apparatus that may therefore be substituted with ease for a conventional key-atop-membrane structure in a portable electronic device.